Roller bearing retaining means

ABSTRACT

The invention contemplates a bearing-roller retainer of machined ductile material utilizing local deformation of roller-pocket sides to develop a unit-handling assembled relation with inserted rolls. The rolls are of the recessed-end variety, and retainer material is displaced into retaining relation with the recessed ends of the rollers. The nature of the displacement is such as to achieve a retained assembly of rollers while avoiding any upset to the inherent running balance and dimensional accuracy of the machined retainer structure.

United StatesPatent [72] Inventor Michael Schweitzer 1,870,892 8/1932Brown v 1 308/217 Southington, Conn. 3.144.284 8/1964 Ortegren 308/217969 Primary Examiner-Fred C4 Mattern, Jr. z l 12 1917! AssistantExaminer-Frank Susko Assign Texmn Inc. AtlorneySandoe, Hopgood &Cahmafde Providence, R.l.

[54] ROLLER BEARING RETAINING MEANS 2 Dramas Figs. ABSTRACT: Theinvention contemplates a bearing-roller [1.8. CI retainer of machinedductilg material utilizing Ioeal deforma- 1 F166 33/46 tion ofroller-pocket sides to develop a unit-handling asseml l Field Seflmh .4308/217. bled relation with inserted rolls. The rolls are of therecessed- 8, 212 end variety/and retainer material is displaced intoretaining 5 6 1 l relation with the recessed ends of the rollers. Thenature of the l Re "wees cued displacement is such as to achieve aretained assembly of r01- UNITED STATES PATENTS lers while avoiding anyupset to the inherent running balance 1,250,595 12/1917 Knoth 308/217and dimensional accuracy of the machined retainer structure.

ROLLER BEARING RETAINING MEANS The present invention relates to a methodand means of roller bearing retention and assembly such that individualrollers are held in unit-handling relation with a retainer for easyassembly and disassembly with respect to the inner and outer rings of abearing.

In certain roller bearings, particularly heavy-duty bearings which mustbe periodically disassembled, cleaned and inspected, one of the problemsis the simultaneous placing of all the rollers in the raceways and inthe retainer. When such bearings are assembled manually, the task isboth time-consuming and susceptible to dirt contamination.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved method of retaining rollers in an annular retainer, such thatthe retainer and the rollers comprise a unithandling assembly withoutthe necessity of handling individual rollers.

Another object is to provide an improved retainer for rollers havingrecessed ends.

It is a specific object to provide an improved roller-retainerconstruction lending itself to machined fabrication from ductilematerial and in which such displacement of material as is involved inlocating assembled rollers produces inconsequential asymmetry in theresultant configuration, thus inducing no noticeable impairment of therotational balance of the running bearing into which the retainer isembodied.

A further specific object is to achieve the above objects with aconfiguration in which the simplest tooling establishes theunit-handling relationship.

Other objects and features of the invention will be pointed out or willbe apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, illustrativeof a preferred embodiment of the invention.

F IG. 1 is a fragmentary, partly broken-away longitudinal sectional viewof a roller bearing incorporating the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side view of subassembled retainer and rollers,as embodied in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FlG. l to illustrate a step in themethod of the invention.

Briefly stated, the invention contemplates a bearing-roller retainer ofmachined ductile material utilizing local deformation of roller-pocketsides to develop a unit-handling assembled relation with inserted rolls.The rolls are of the recessedend, variety, and retainer material isdisplaced into retaining relation with the recessed ends of the rollers.The nature of the displacement is such as to achieve a retained assemblyof rollers while avoiding any upset to the inherent running balance andaccuracy of the machined retainer structure.

The invention may be embodied in tapered-roller bearings F but is shownin application to a bearing comprising cylindrical inner and outer racerings -11, with interposed rollers 12in circumferentially spacedrelation. An annular retainer structure. 13 has a plurality of rollerpockets 14 between integral connecting arms of bridge members 15. Therollers are of the recessed-end variety, being centrally excavated as at16, axially inwardly of the terminal plane of roller support, foravoidance of end-effect stress concentrations, all as more fully setforth in Van Dorn US. Pat. No. 2,947,581. The bearing shown is of thevariety in which the rollers are axially located between spacedshoulders straddling one of the races, in this case, the inner. Thus,rollers 12 are located between radially outward flanges or sidewalls17-18 of the inner ring 10.

The retainer ring may be of integral one-piece construction, beingmachined from suitable ductile material, such as bronze or mild steel.The overall blank configuration is annular cylindrically prismatic, andthe roller pockets may be formed as suitably spaced, initially drilled,radial pilot bores of limited diameter, later expanded to desiredrectangular pocket size by radial broaching techniques.

In accordance with the invention, locally weakened pocket sidewallregions are provided in the retainer, near the axial center alignmentfor the roller of each pocket. Such a region is illustrated at 20 inFlG. 3, being defined by drilling a bore 21 axially inward on thedesired alignment. Similar bores 21 are formed in the retainer-pocketsidewalls for each axial end of each pocket.

To assemble the rollers to the retainer, as to produce the subassemblyof FlG. 2, each roller 12 is held in its pocket while weakened sidewallregions 20 are displaced axially into the included volume of theadjacent roller end recess 16. This may be performed by a special tool(not shown) having opposed projections enterable into opposed bores 21for a given roller pocket, and squeezable to effect the desiredretaining displacements 24 (FIG. 1); but in the form shown, a singlepunch tool 22, inserted in each bore 21, need only be pressed in ortapped with a hammer as suggested by the arrow 23; a positive stop orshoulder 22' on tool 22 indicates means to control uniformity ofdisplacements 24. For each roller, the resulting displacements 24 atboth axial ends accomplish roller reten tion, without imposing anyrunning restrictions. Also, the displaced metal remains at the sameradius about the bearing axis, so that no asymmetry is introduced to thedetriment of balanced running of the bearing; moreover, displacements 24are so localized as to assure against local distortion of either theland-riding surfaces of the retainer or the roller-contact surfaces ofthe pocket side walls.

If the bearing rollers 12 are assembled as described in connection withFIG. 2, the rollers and retainer are a unit-handling subassembly whichof course must be axially assembled to both the inner and outer races;in such event, axial retention of the rollers with respect to the raceswill necessarily require that one of the end flanges 17-18 be removable.On the other hand, for the arrangement specifically shown in FlGS. l and3, the rollers 12 should be assembled, as described, while theyoverstand the race channel between flanges 17-18 of the inner bearingring. The assembly of rollers 12 to retainer 13 thus necessarily alsoachieves assembly into unit-handling relation with the inner ring 10.Bearing assembly is completed by axial insertion of the describedsubassembly into the bore which defines the race of the outer bearingring 11. Gently flared end zones or chamfers 25, adjacent the ends ofthe load-bearing outer race, will be understood to facilitate such finalassembly.

It will be seen that l have described an improved retainer constructionand assembly method, lending itself to simple assembly techniqueswithout comprising the running balance and accuracy of a finishedbearing, even for high-speed appli cations. The selectively deformedlocalized parts relied upon for roller retention are inconspicuous andpresent no obstruction which might accumulate foreign matter or besubject to wear or abuse during use. Thedisplaced material 24 is sosubstantially smaller than the recessed region of the adjacent rollerend that no contact occurs at 24 as long as the fully assembledrelationship exists. in other words, the only mechanical function servedby the displacements 24 is one of roller retention during the existenceof a subassembled condition.

It will be appreciated that, at the region of axial overlap between theprojections 24 and the recesses 16 at the roller ends, the radialclearance of each projection (24) in its recess (16) exceeds the radialfreedom of roller movement in its pocket, such radial freedom beingconsidered for each roller with respect to the associated projection(24) axis. Such a relationship assures that when a bearing is fullyassembled, roller piloting in the retainer involves the outercylindrical surface and end faces of each roller and that such pilotingis independent of any contact of'a projection (24) within its recess.Additionally, for the case of the unit-handling assembly of retainer,rollers, and a flanged bearing ring, the radial freedom of theprojections (24) in their recesses (16) is such with respect to theeffective radial extent of flanges l7l8 that rollers are not free enoughto displace out of their nested relation between the bearing-ringflanges; and in this connection,

it will be understood that by selection of the effective recess (16)radius, in relation to the effective radius of the projections (24),there may be a desired control of roller drop" in such a unit-handlingassembly, thus providing simpler final assembly thereof to the remainingrace member. Still further, the invention provides desired rollerretention without developing the stress-raising corners, sharp-edgedjunctions, or other fracture-prone parts, which are characteristic ofconventional staked-nib constructions.

Although the invention has been described in detail for a preferredform, it will be understood that modifications may be made within thescope of the invention as defined by the claims.

What I claim is:

l. A roller-bearing retainer comprising an annulus of ductile materialwith plural angularly spaced roller-receiving pockets, each pocketextending radially through said annulus and confined at axial ends byend walls forming part of said annulus, each such wall having a recesslocal to the central region of the wall at its adjacent pocket and openaxially outwardly, each such wall recess terminating short of theaxially inner limit of the wall, the depth of the recess in terms of theremaining wall thickness being such that the end wall opposite localizedcentral region may be incrementally displaced substantially to theexclusion of the remainder of the wall for retaining a recessed rollerinthe pocket.

2. As an article of manufacture, a unit-handling assembly comprising aroller-bearing retainer with rollers retained therein, each of saidrollers having a central recess at each end thereof, said retainer beingan integral one-piece annulus with plural angularly spacedroller-receiving pockets, each pocket extending radially through saidannulus and confined at axial ends by end walls forming part of saidannulus, each such wall having a recess local to the central region ofthe wall at its adjacent pocket and open axially outwardly, the depth ofthe recess being such that the remaining wall thickness is smallcompared to the overall wall thickness, thereby defining a relativelythin end-wall portion adjacent each roller end, and a local axiallyinward projection integral with each said relatively thin end-wallportion, each such projection extending into loose retaining relationwith the adjacent roller end recess, whereby said rollers are radiallyretained in unit-handling relation with said retainer solely by theaction of the projections of said relatively thin end-wall portions.

1. A roller-bearing retainer comprising an annulus of ductile materialwith plural angularly spaced roller-receiving pockets, each pocketextending radially through said annulus and confined at axial ends byend walls forming part of said annulus, each such wall having a recesslocal to the central region of the wall at its adjacent pocket and openaxially outwardly, each such wall recess terminating short of theaxially inner limit of the wall, the depth of the recess in terms of theremaining wall thickness being such that the end wall opposite localizedcentral region may be incrementally displaced substantially to theexclusion of the remainder of the wall for retaining a recessed rollerin the pocket.
 2. As an article of manufacture, a unit-handling assemblycomprising a roller-bearing retainer with rollers retained therein, eachof said rollers having a central recess at each end thereof, saidretainer being an integral one-piece annulus with plural angularlyspaced roller-receiving pockets, each pocket extending radially throughsaid annulus and confined at axial ends by end walls forming part ofsaid annulus, each such wall having a recess local to the central regionof the wall at its adjacent pocket and open axially outwardly, the depthof the recess being such that the remaining wall thickness is smallcompared to the overall wall thickness, thereby defining a relativelythin end-wall portion adjacent each roller end, and a local axiallyinward projection integral with each said relatively thin end-wallportion, each such projection extending into loose retaining relationwith the adjacent roller end recess, whereby said rollers are radiallyretained in unit-handling relation with said retainer solely by theaction of the projections of said relatively thin end-wall portions.